


Team Nomad

by silentflightfeathers



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pokemon GO
Genre: And the World Will Turn to Ash (Pokemon Fan Comic), F/F, F/M, I Don't Even Know, I'll update tags as I go, Is this the part where everybody bangs?, LOL you think I plan this, Legendary Pokemon - Freeform, Not Yet., Now we're scaring the everybody, Original Legendary Bonded, Original Pokemon Trainer - Freeform, Pokemon Fanfiction, Pokemon GO - Freeform, Rating May Change, Spark that's not yours, This just came out of my head one day, VANESSA SERIOUSLY CHILL, Woops we're scaring the humans again, Yet., Zapdos don't challenge the time pokemon he will whoop you, good job Vanessa, nope - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-19
Updated: 2019-05-25
Packaged: 2019-08-04 06:46:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16341827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silentflightfeathers/pseuds/silentflightfeathers
Summary: There are more than just the three legendary Titans to worry about these days. The leader of Team Nomad, a team of research specialists, knows that better than most.





	1. Go Nomad

She was blonde, and her hair- when it didn’t have streaks of blood in it- was cut in that shape that women tend to favor after their husband’s latest promotion and second child means they have money to pay a stylist but no time to maintain a hairstyle. She was cuffed on the floor of a rival team’s brig and focused on the redhead in the eyepatch like the Rocket assistant was a prime rib dinner in the jungle.

Her eyes were closed but her eyelids were glowing like they were lightbulbs wrapped in flesh, and Amelie knew - with instincts honed from years of dealing with her idiot boss’s family issues- they were in fucking  _ trouble. _

“Gunner, cut the chains.”

“What? But Ame—”

“ _ Gunner. _ ”

The rocket grunt snapped the chain of the cuffs with the bolt cutters in his hand. The woman stood, stiff like her body was no more than a wooden doll, and grimaced at the cuffs still on her wrists. Amelie stepped forward- no one else would do it- and reached for the cuffs. 

The woman growled, like a pissed-off cat.

“If you let me pick the cuffs, Uxie,” the redhead soothed. “We can tend to your bonded’s wounds.”

The woman held her wrists out slightly, growling the whole time. Amelie felt sweat bead along her hairline as she picked one cuff, then the other. She handed them off to a grunt and backed away. 

“The medevac is this way,” she said slowly. “If you follow me, we’ll treat your wounds.”

The woman’s mouth moved like a fish, and she swayed. The grunts all took a step back, anticipating a lunge or a move, but Amelie lunged forward and caught her as she fell and the glow of her eyes guttered. The next sound that came out of the woman was a very human-like groan.

“Hey,” Amelie said, shifting the woman’s arm over her shoulders, “back with us?”

“ ‘Melie…?”

“In the flesh. Let’s get you to a medic.”

“Where…?”

“Team Flare’s latest digs. Any idea what they wanted with your skinny butt?”

The blonde snorted, then spat blood. “You’re one to talk.”

Amelie dodged the bodies in the hallway as she led the woman outside to the medics. They weren’t Rocket medics- this was  _ supposed to  _ just be a recon mission- but she knew them well enough. The woman, medium height and teal hair, was officially a field tech, and the man, taller, with dark freckled skin and deep russet-brown hair, was the Team doctor for the region. Their paths didn't cross often, but they knew her well enough to show up after a encrypted text message informed them their team leader was being held captive by Team Flare.

“Nomad,” she said.

“Rocket,” was the woman's flat response. And then: “Leader Vanessa!”

Vanessa stood on her own two feet- shakily, but she stood- and rubbed her face. “Am I glad to see you two,” she said. “Is Umbreon with you?”

“Umbreon’s at camp with the others. Leader Vanessa, what happened? You disappeared! This is a Team Flare base! Weren’t you helping them with their research in Kalos? Why are you all beat up?”

Her eyes flickered, but her spine straightened. “Not anymore. Send a bulletin: Team Flare is blacklisted. Destroy all research, sabotage all experiments, a full evac. Go Nomad.”

Amelie’s eyebrows quirked up at the speed at which the two Nomad medics bolted. Vanessa lost a few inches of height, and Amelie popped her shoulder under the other woman’s arm again. “Don’t overdo it, Vanessa.”

“Shut up, Amelie. Let’s just get out of here.”

Amelie snorted. “I bet you don’t even know which region you’re in right now.”

The leader of Team Nomad’s mouth quirked. “Sinnoh. Those pines are native to the Sinnoh region. And Melanie and Carter are supposed to be helping Professor Rowan with his research.”

“Show-off.”

“Heh. Hey, hold on a second.”

Amelie paused, and Vanessa took her arm off Amelie’s shoulder to turn back to the facility. “Uxie,” she said, and the legendary Lake pokemon popped into existence next to her, patting her bloody hair with its paws. “Cast Future sight.”

“Wait!” Amelie shouted, but she, of course, wasn’t the Bonded. “Full Evac! On the double! Everyone out,  _ now!” _

Her team bolted out of the building as the pokemon opened its mouth. “Idiot!” She screeched at Vanessa; “What was that for?! Run!”

They bolted for the jeep parked not far away. Vanessa, Amelie noticed, did not have as much trouble keeping up as someone who’d had the shit kicked out of them before being tossed in a holding cell should have. 

The building exploded while they were speeding away. The Nomads followed recklessly close behind in their own jeep, laughing like loons.

~*~

Vanessa sat on a stool at a remote research outpost in the Sinnoh region. 

“Hold still Van, I’m not done yet.”

She grimaced at the medic smoothing a bandage over a cut on her shoulder. “Carter…” 

“Don’t ‘Carter,’ me, Vanessa. You look like you got hit by a truck. Sit the fuck still, so help me Arceus, or I’ll have Arcanine  _ sit on you. _ ”

“Has anyone told you your bedside manner is  _ appalling?” _

He smirked. “And yet, you pay me.”

“Don’t push your luck, Car.”

Her companion pokemon nudged its head under her hand and licked at her fingers. “Bree?” it asked, one paw raised to pat her on the knee. Vanessa scratched the middle of the blue ring on its forehead. “Hey, Wander. I missed you too.”

“Bree bree!” it chirruped before biting her finger. 

“Ow! Okay, okay, I deserve that. I won’t leave you behind next time, I’m sorry.”

The umbreon cooed and went back to licking her fingers. Carter snapped his kit closed and snorted. “He’s been an unholy terror the entire time you’ve been gone. He hid his ball, he broke out of every cage he got put in, we had to have Lindsey’s Cadabra keep him in camp. It still wouldn’t have worked if Trey hadn’t let him follow him around as he coordinated the search efforts, and you’re not even listening to me!”

She grinned around a faceful of glossy black fur as her Umbreon squirmed in her lap. “Sorry, you guys. I didn’t intend to make you worry.”

“What did Lysander want?”

She put the pokemon down. “He wanted my help to capture Xerneas and discover the secret to life.”

The room went silent. She sighed. “Trey, how is the evac going?”

Her second-in-command leaned away from his computer station. “Everyone is out. Two labs exploded, fifteen servers were melted down to slag, and three out of five Team Flare execs are under police custody. Five of our teams have gone Nomad. Risk of immediate retribution is minimal-to-average.”

“Good work, everyone.” She ran her fingers through her hair and winced. “Get some sleep. We disappear in the morning.”


	2. Seek Knowledge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Professor, your students found a sudowoodo in the woods and got freaked out."

It was six months before anyone with access to the media laid eyes on the leader of Team Nomad, and if they didn’t recognize her with her hair put in a loose ponytail and dirt smeared on her nose, that was the way she liked it anyway. She waved genially to the small news crew from her perch in the treetops, an overly friendly fletchling attempting to nest on her head, and went back to observing the shiny Swablu nest three trees over. Her Umbreon was capering around in the underbrush with a young trainer’s pokemon, and the trainer was chattering at the somewhat overwhelmed anchor about the training camp he was attending.

“Doctor Carsen! Doctor Carsen!”

She shooed the bird off of her head and leaned over. The news crew was packing up, and the trainer was waving his little arms. “Yes?”

“Professor Sycamore says he found something really neat you should come look at! And it’s lunchtime!”

She chuckled. “I’ll be down in a second,” she called. She double-checked that her safety gear was cinched properly, then she clipped onto the safety line and climbed down.

The kid- Benny, she remembered- was dancing with impatience when she landed back on Terra Firma. Wander jumped up for kisses before she could unclip herself, and she wound up dangling in her climbing harness for a minute while she fought off 25 kilos of eeveelution. The kid eventually pulled Wander off, and she unclipped. She stood, unbuckled her harness, and grinned. “See? That’s why you should always wear a safety harness.”

He grinned back and fended off Umbreon kisses. “Your Umbreon is really friendly!”

“Wander’s pretty excitable. He should know better than to jump on people, though. You ready?”

“Yeah! Come on, Froakie! I want lunch!”

She laughed and let the kid lead them back to the camp, answering the incessant pokemon-related questions with just the right mix of enthusiasm and mysterious wisdom. By the end of the trail, the ten-year-old had declared that he would be the one to discover the truth of at least four different pokemon-related mysteries. She assured him that she couldn’t wait to hear what he would discover before he headed off to lunch and she went to find the professor.

She found him in the staff office, pouring over maps. “You wanted to see me, Professor?”

“Van!” He stood and ran his hand through his dark hair. “Just in time. I was just about to head out.”

She tilted her head. “Okay. Where are you going?”

He pointed to a remote part of the map, close to one of the major rivers. “A couple of the older trainers were on a six-day hike. They just got back a couple hours ago, with a crazy story about finding a part of the forest with old scars from a huge battle. And a giant tree that generates its own heat.” 

She put her hands on her hips. “Professor, your students found a Sudowoodo in the woods and got freaked out.”

He laughed and scratched the back of his head. “Maybe. I still want to check it out. It could be a new grass type, or an unknown evolution. Want to come with me? I’ll put your name on the research papers.” He winked.

She rolled her eyes. “Of course I’ll come with you. Seek Knowledge, Professor. It’s in the team motto.”

“Wonderful. Get your pack—” she hefted the daypack still in her hand— “ah, well, let me get  _ my _ pack and we’ll take one of the camp jeeps out that way. We should get close enough today to be able to hike in tomorrow.”

“Right. I’ll stop by the kitchens and ask them to pack us a three-day cooler.” 

He rubbed his chin. “Better make that four. Might want to study it a bit.”

“Sure. I’ll meet you at the jeep in half an hour?”

“Sure. Ah… quick question.”

She paused at the door. “Hm?”

“Do you still have Uxie… with you… in Kalos?”

She frowned. “I always have Uxie with me, Augustine. Do you expect something to go wrong?”

He scratched the back of his head. “Well, you’ll have heard about the trouble we had some years ago with Team Flare and Lysandre Labs,” he grimaced. “And those vines…”

She nodded. “We’ll handle it if it’s that, Professor. Don’t worry. I’ll see you in a bit.”

Professor Sycamore swallowed the lump in his throat. “Right.”

~~~

She let the Professor drive the jeep. Umbreon rode in the back with his head stuck out the window, and the Professor’s Garchomp lounged with their gear. “She likes being comfortable,” he’d explained when Vanessa had asked, so Van had just gone with it and moved some of the breakables to the backseat. It was two hours into a bouncy root-riddled drive, and both pokemon had had to be warned to keep their heads out of the way of low-lying branches several times. Not that they paid much attention- Wander liked using dark pulse to clear the trail, which wasn’t helping either of the human’s nerves much, even if it made travel easier. 

“Wander, I swear, if you Dark Pulse my elbow again, you’re going back in your ball,” Vanessa warned. “Ack! No, don’t lick my ear, you’re being naughty and you know better. You can’t aim from a moving vehicle, you dope.”

Sycamore chuckled as the recalcitrant umbreon wriggled past the center console so he could give his trainer guilty face and beg for scritches. Vanessa rolled her eyes. “Brat,” she said fondly, and scratched the circle on top of his head.

“He’s really an impressive pokemon,” Sycamore said as he swerved to avoid a fallen limb. “Shinies are so rare, and he’s strong to boot.”

She smiled. “I rescued him when he was just a tiny little kit,” she said. Then she laughed. “We’ve been through a lot together. I’m afraid I spoiled him, though. He’s a bit of a brat.”

The professor grinned. “All the best Pokemon are. Isn’t that right, Garchomp?”

“Grawrrawr!”

“Hah! See?”

“Ha! Sure.” She twisted her mouth, thinking. “Sycamore,” she asked. “Are you really worried those vines have something to do with this ‘tree’?”

“Whoa, segue!” 

She quirked an eyebrow at him. He cleared his throat.

“Back then,” he started, “Lysandre was trying to use Zygarde to commit genocide and rebuild the world for his ‘chosen ones.’ We beat him back then, all of the gym leaders, Ash and the kids…” He heaved a breath out from his diaphragm. “We thought he was gone. Xerosic was arrested. Then, a year or two ago, there were rumors. Team Flare had gone underground, with a charismatic new leader. No one could find them. Then, six months ago, the police start raiding labs.” He inhaled. “I’m worried Lysandre is going to try again. It took us years to rebuild Kalos after Zygarde destroyed Lumiose City. I don’t even know where Ash’s Greninja  _ is _ these days…”

She nodded. “Wander, sweetie, can you get mommy’s pack for her? Good boy! Thank you.”

The professor raised an eyebrow as she dug through her pack. Then, she tossed something on his lap.

He braked. She’d tossed a garish pair of high-tech sunglasses in a ziploc on his lap. They were bright red— and bloody. “Are these…?”

She leaned her elbow on her armrest and looked at the professor. “Six months ago, Lysandre grew impatient with the progress of his scientist’s attempts to locate and investigate the legendary pokemon Xerneas. When I washed the blood off, I sent my teams Nomad and went hunting.” She nodded at the glasses in his lap. “I found him three months ago. You don’t have to worry about Lysandre or Team Flare, Augustine. He’s dead. He can’t hurt anyone anymore.”

He grimaced. “I’m certain Willow did not let you form Team Nomad so you could play spy games and commit corporate sabotage.”

She smirked. “Maybe. But I did, and there’s not much he can do about it now. Besides,  _ Willow _ is the one who gave me  _ that _ assignment.”

Sycamore rolled his eyes and started driving again. “You worry me, Vanessa.”

“I’m just trying to keep everyone safe, Augustine. We can’t keep allowing teams like Galactic and Flare do what they want with the world. There isn’t always going to be an Ash Ketchum around to stop them.”

“There isn’t always going to be a Vanessa Carsen around to stop them, either.” 

She shrugged. “Fair enough. That’s why I built my team the way I did, though. They don’t  _ need _ me. They’ll keep doing what they do no matter where I am, and they’ll sound the alert if something is going to go bad. I’m the backup.”

He sighed. “Is this what all of Willow’s Bonded are like? Stubborn and badly in need of therapy?”

“For the most part. And I’m Rowan’s bonded.”

He cut the engine and gave her a gimlet stare. He opened his mouth, but Vanessa cut him off. 

“ _ No, _ Professor. I know you’ve been there to guide Bonnie with Zygarde, but most of us have not had such gentle experiences with our bonds- and a lot of that is due to something  _ humans _ did, in the legendaries’ pasts or during the bond.” She swiped her hand over her face. “The only reason I’m telling you this is because you might have to deal with it with Bonnie down the road. Professor, it’s not like Mega Evolution or the usual bond between trainer and pokemon. It’s nothing like that. It goes deeper, and it cuts deeper. We change, Augustine, whether we like it or not. We have a soul-bonded connection with a being that hasn’t ever experienced human empathy and has no need for human morality. Beings so powerful it’s difficult to comprehend and difficult to control. But we do. A bonded who cannot control their bond doesn’t survive.”

Sycamore just sat, staring. Vanessa realized her teeth had lengthened while she spoke, blanched, and turned away. Wander clambered fully into her lap, and the professor cleared his throat.

“Well,” he croaked, “we’re here.”

She closed her eyes. “I didn’t mean that you need to worry about—”

He held up a hand. “I know, Vanessa. I’ve spoken with Willow, and I’ve met other Bonded. I’m not worried about Bonnie. I’m worried about- ah, hell, I don’t know what I’m worried about. You’re just scary when your eyes start glowing and you casually talk about murdering people, that’s all.”

She rolled her eyes— her back-to-normal eyes— and opened her door so Wander could jump down. “I suppose that’s fair,” she allowed. “...He really did need to be put down, though…”

Sycamore snorted. “I won’t argue that,” he said, opening his own door and hopping out of the jeep. “But next time, maybe don’t drop it in someone’s lap like that. It’s a bit of a shock _. _ ”

She got out and helped him pull their gear out from under Garchomp. “Is this really the spot?”

“As close as we can get in the jeep, anyway,” he gestured east of them, towards what looked suspiciously like a cliff. “That canyon cuts off vehicle access to the site. We’ll have to hike all the way around- and I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel like making that hike in the dark. I thought we’d camp here for the night and make the hike in the morning. What do you think?”

“Sounds like a plan,” she said. “I’ll set the tents up if you cook.”

“Deal.”

They set about their tasks (Vanessa used the jeep as a windbreak for one of their tents, and Sycamore cooked their dinner on the custom tailgate), and by the time they both were done, they’d concluded that the only way the second tent was going to stay on the ground was if Garchomp used it as a sleeping bag (Garchomp, for her part, elected to sleep in her ball).

They pulled spare blankets out of the jeep’s gearbox and sat in the back of the jeep to watch the sky before turning in. A couple hundred miles away from the nearest city, the stars cast enough light to see by. 

Vanessa, though, was fidgety.

“Are you still cold? There’s another blanket…”

“No, no.” She frowned. “Something feels… off… about this place, that’s all.”

He grimaced. “You don’t think it  _ is  _ those vines, do you?”

“No, it doesn’t feel  _ bad _ , just… off. Heh, maybe I’m just tired.” She jumped down. “Are you staying up? Wander likes to be up late, he’ll keep you company if you like.”

“I think I will. We’ll have guy time, huh, Wander? What do you say?”

Wander cocked his head and looked at the professor. “Breeon?”

They laughed. “Goodnight, Augustine.”

“Goodnight, Vanessa. It’s only going to get chillier, we’ll probably turn in soon enough.”

“I’ll make sure to leave enough space.” The tent was technically only meant for one.

“Thanks.”

~~~

They woke up the next morning entangled with a pokemon sleeping on top of them, and silently agreed not to acknowledge it but to  _ definitely _ pack both tents on the hike. Vanessa, being used  to sleeping in a catpile with her other trio bonded, wasn’t too much phased, but the Professor was clearly unused to it. Wander, of course, drooled in his sleep.

They didn’t waste much time with coffee, breakfast, or packing for the hike, so they were off within an hour of waking up. They made good time around the first leg of the hike- moving North along the canyon’s edge- but as soon as they crossed a narrow span-bridge Vanessa started feeling jittery again, and as they moved further away from the eastern edge, even the Professor began to cast nervous looks at the trees around them. Wander slunk along warily at Vanessa’s heels, and Garchomp refused to leave her ball.

Half a mile away from the place Sycamore had marked on his map, Vanessa stopped and went white as a sheet. 

“Ohhh no. No no no no… Professor, I need to get out of here…”

“What? Why? We only have half a mile left—”

“Because,” a new voice called from the trees, “this is  _ my _ territory. And we did not invite her.”


	3. Old Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They meet someone in the woods they never expected.

The person who’d called to them was perched on a low branch several yards off the trail they’d been following. She was wearing rough, comfortable hiker’s clothes and looked at them as though she was planning for a battle. But what was remarkable was her hair- black at the roots, it faded out into a shifting iridescence at the ends. Her eyes were bright blue, and glowed in the shadows. 

Vanessa immediately bowed deeply. “Forgive me,” she said. “I was requested to investigate an anomaly in this area. If I had realized this was another legendary’s territory, I would not have come.”

The woman dropped off of her perch and crossed the distance between them in two graceful bounding leaps. “Ooh,” she purred, “polite  _ and _ cute. Very well,” her hair abruptly stopped glowing and settled as mere dark curls around her shoulders, and her eyes darkened into a spring green, “I’ll forgive you. Once, Uxie’s bonded. But  _ who _ are  _ you, _ sir? And why are so many people suddenly visiting my forest?”

Professor Sycamore’s mouth moved a few times before he managed to make words come out of it. “I-I am— I mean, my name is Professor Augustine Sycamore. I’m the Pokemon Professor for the Kalos region.”

“ _ The _ Professor Augustine Sycamore? Who rebuilt Kalos after Lumiose City fell?”

He flushed and rubbed the back of his head. “Well, it wasn’t  _ just _ me…”

She waved her hand. “Yes, yes. Why are you  _ here _ , though?”

He coughed again, then gathered himself. “Several of my students were on a hike through this area several days ago and reported evidence of a huge battle and a strange tree. Doctor Carsen and I came to investigate. We were concerned it may have been an… anomaly.”

“An anomaly? In  _ Xerneas’ _ forest? No. No, I’m afraid your students were simply trespassing.  _ That _ is why  _ I _ am here. Humans are not allowed here, Professor Sycamore, not after their greed woke Yveltal and nearly destroyed this place.”

Sycamore had to stop and blink for a few moments at the placid declaration. That, and he desperately wanted to avoid the ‘I-told-you-so’ that Vanessa was broadcasting in his direction. 

Vanessa stuck her hands in her pockets and rocked on her feet. “If humans are no longer allowed here,” she asked with a bit of a wicked quirk to her lips, “what use has Xerneas for a Bonded in the first place?”

The woman’s eyes flashed blue. “Curiosity killed the cat, you know.”

Vanessa grinned. “Ah, but satisfaction brought it back.” She tilted her head. “So please, drop the act. You might be bonded, but I’d bet my last dollar you’re not some crazy witch who lives in the woods and eats children who trespass upon your magic tree.”

Sycamore blanched, but the woman laughed. “Alright, you got me. My name’s Tristin. Xerneas has a bonded because Zygarde does, really.”

“And… Yveltal…?”

“Yveltal is sleeping, thank Arceus.”

“Well, that’s something, I suppose.” Sycamore scratched his head. “So, you’re really here because my students trespassed?”

She shrugged. “More or less. It makes Xerneas nervous when humans come here, because of what happened before. I’m just here in case I need to chase someone off. I run a pokemon sanctuary a few miles upriver, most of the time.” Then her face lit up in a bright smile. “Do you wanna meet Xerneas?”

“Uh...Sure!” 

Vanessa shrugged. “If it does not mind my being here, it would be nice to meet it.”

“Come on!” And she was off, with a previously hidden entourage of pokemon at her heels.

Sycamore looked at Vanessa, bewildered. She just shrugged. “Fairy types,” she said, and loped after them. “... maybe don’t eat the food.”

When they caught up to Tristin, she was nimbly jumping over roots and stones that broke up the trail, an espeon at her heels. She paused so they could scramble past all of her pokemon. 

Vanessa patted a linoone that sniffed her hand. “Are all of these guys… yours?”

Tristin laughed. “The Wild Hunt? No, I just healed them. I usually release the pokemon I know won’t do well around people here. The friendlier ones like to say hi when I visit. The espeon is mine, though. Her name is Tempest.”

“The Wild Hunt,” Vanessa grinned. “I like that.”

“I never heard that there was a sanctuary around here,” Sycamore puffed, “It’s not on any of the camp’s maps.” 

“That’s because I didn’t want you to know,” Tristin quipped. “The more people that know, the worse it gets. Poachers target sanctuaries, you know.”

Wander growled low, and Vanessa stroked his head. “We know. Have you had trouble?”

“Some. Nothing since Greninja settled here. He usually patrols.”

Sycamore’s head shot up from the pokemon he’d been petting. “Greninja?!”

“Mm-hm. Zygarde came by a couple years ago and asked if we’d keep an eye on him. He must’ve been trained for battle once, because he’s really… hey, where is he going? Wait up!” She pointed after the Professor, who was scrambling over the rocks down the trail as quickly as he could. “What the hell?”

Vanessa looked bemused. “If it’s the Greninja I’m thinking of, they’re old friends.”

Tristin blinked. “Well, if I’d realized you were friends of Greninja’s, I wouldn’t have stopped you. He’s lonely out here, with only pokemon to hang out with. Oh, well, come on. Before the professor breaks his ankle or something.”

They made it to Xerneas’ clearing a little bit after the Professor and found him face-to-face with a shocked Greninja. It was clear that it was the same pokemon: Greninja recognized the Professor immediately, even so far as to ask for a hug, which they walked in on. Xerneas even manifested in its mobile form: a tall, deerling-shaped pokemon with blue fur and slate-colored antlers. It stepped gracefully down from its perch to greet its bonded, who reached up to give it scritches. Even that, though, didn’t distract the professor from Greninja.

“Oh, I wish Ash were here to see you’re doing well,” he told it. “He always asks if I’ve seen you when he calls.”

“Ninnjaa?”

“Yep, every time. He misses you a lot. I’m glad I’ll be able to tell him you’re well this time!” Sycamore looked around him for the first time since he walked into the clearing. “This is a nice place to be, isn’t it?”

“Greninjaa…”

Tristin was watching the pair thoughtfully. “Hey, uh… Dr. Carsen…?”

“It’s Vanessa, please.”

She nodded. “Vanessa. Why do you have so much gear?”

“Well, we originally planned to spend a couple days investigating the battle scars and ‘weird tree’ the professor’s students had reported, but you’ve pretty much solved those mysteries for us, so I suppose we’ll probably just head back.”

“Hmm. I have an idea! Professor,” she called, “since you have camping gear, why don’t you spend the night and catch up with Greninja? I’m sure it would be good for Greninja to spend time with an old friend.”

“That sounds like a great idea! What do you think, ‘Nessa?”

Vanessa grinned. “Well, I wasn’t relishing the thought of having to make camp cliffside again. I think that sounds like a wonderful idea. Why don’t you two catch up, and Tristin and I can set up camp?” She looked over her shoulder at their host. “I’m sure she knows where to find a good camping spot.”

Tristin grinned. “You bet I do. Follow me.”

~~

The pair had just finished setting up the second tent when Sycamore sauntered into camp and plopped onto a convenient log. “Whew! It’s been quite a day,” he said. “If the cooking stuff’s handy, I’ll make dinner, since you ladies did all the hard stuff already.”

“That’s fine, Professor, don’t you want to hang out with Greninja?” 

“Ah, he’s having a battle with Garchomp right now. They’ll tucker themselves out soon enough and come begging. Besides, I’m a better cook than Vanessa.”

Vanessa squawked. “I cook just fine!”

He grinned. “She’s out in the field so much, all she knows how to cook is trail food. It’s edible, but that’s all it is.”

“See if I take  _ you _ out to dinner next time I’m in the city,” she groused. The professor just laughed at her and started picking through their food supply.

Tristin watched all of this from where she was lounging against her recumbent bonded’s side, her espeon and a vulpix piled on her lap. “Professor, how do you know Greninja so well? He’s a very reserved pokemon.”

“Well, I don’t know if I’d say I know him  _ well _ , but I know his trainer, Ash. They had an exceptionally close bond, similar to mega-evolution. We called it Battle Bond. Ash is the only trainer in the league to achieve it— but then everything with Lysandre labs and Zygarde happened, and Greninja chose to stay behind and help rebuild when Ash was leaving for his home in Kanto. Ash never failed to ask after it when he called, though, but the only time he visited, he couldn’t find Greninja. He looked, though. He looked for a long time.”

“Hmm. That’s a shame. Greninja was probably here the whole time.” She pursed her lips. “Professor, if I asked you to take Greninja with you when you leave, would you be able to reconnect them? I’ve known Greninja for a long time now, and he has a sad heart. I would like to make him happy.”

“Would I?! Miss Tristin, I’m sure that if I called Ash Ketchum right now, he’d travel by  _ lightning _ if he had to. He’s always been like that for all of his pokemon.”

“He has that strong of a bond with his pokemon?”

“Well, Ash has always been a little special.”

“I’ve noticed,” Vanessa interjected, “that most of the legendary pokemon that now have Bonded’s first took their Bonded after some sort of crisis that Ash got involved in. You call him special _ , _ Augustine, but I call him a  _ catalyst. _ ”

Sycamore sighed over his cooking. “It may be that you’re right, Vanessa. Ash does have a knack for being in the right place at the right time.”

Tristin raised her eyebrows. “Do you really think that all of these legendaries are bonding with humans just because they met Ash Ketchum at one point?”

Vanessa shook her head. “No. Uxie’s told me before that that isn’t the case- they bond with humans for various reasons. Not all of them are good, either. But I’ve talked to many of them, and it is an interesting pattern.”

Sycamore ladled out what looked like stew but smelled like pokemon food into as many of his spare pots and pans as he had. “I’ll just go feed the gang over there,” he said. “Be back in a while.”

Tristin slid her gaze over to where Vanessa was scratching her Umbreon’s belly. “So,” she said. “Why did you bond with Uxie, then? And what are you doing outside of Sinnoh?”

Vanessa froze for a moment. “It’s not one of the good stories,” she said. “But if you’re curious, I’ll tell you.”

Tristin put her chin in her hands. “Please. I’m curious, now.”

“Very well…”


	4. Territory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a flashback

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note that while this chapter is a flashback in the main story arc, I'm going to be continuing this chapter as the beginning chapter in the second part of a Team Nomad series- these will be bits that are out of this story arc's timeline (i.e. prequels and stuff), are explicit, etc.

Vanessa Carsen walked into the poacher’s camp and leaned casually against one of their jeeps. They were gathered around the fire, drinking, and hadn’t seen her yet. That was fine. She was patient, and her Bonded pokemon, Uxie, had a few more pokemon left to teleport out of their cages. 

She ran her tongue across the sharp point of a fang and waited for the soft rustles behind her to stop. Uxie settled on her left shoulder, its closed eyes glowing softly.  _ Skins, _ it told her,  _ there are skins in the boxes. _

She’d known, of course. Weeks of stalking this group, and she’d found the corpses they’d left behind them like so much garbage. She wasn’t sure where she was at this point- her phone had died two weeks ago- but she didn’t care. Her prey were in front of her, and her rage was vast. Human law didn’t matter much at this point.

_ Take care, _ Uxie reminded her.  _ This place is not mine, another rules here. And even I grow tired. _

She nodded. There were only three of them. She wavered, settling in before a strike. 

A twig broke under her foot, and they turned. They turned into her claws and fangs, and the knife she kept in a sheath at her hip. 

One died, one lost an eye, and the last ran towards the woods, into Uxie’s Thunder. He screamed. He screamed as the lightning cooked him, then they screamed as she cut them while they flailed, and they screamed curses at her while she watched them bleed out. 

She grinned at them through their blood on her face. “Eighteen,” she told them, “you left eighteen corpses for me to track you by.” Twelve skinned pokemon, and two newly hatched litters left to starve without their mothers. She dug her claws into a mangled face. “You killed in my territory.”

“ _ You _ killed in  _ mine.” _

She dropped the poacher and spun. A man walked out of the woods, blonde, tall, his eyes glowing gold and smelling of ozone.  _ Zapdos! _ Uxie cried. 

For a long moment the only sound in the clearing was the plips of blood dripping from her claws. Vanessa raised her chin.

The butchered thing on the ground lurched upwards and buried her own knife in her back.

Zapdos’ lightning was more potent than Uxie’s. They both fell, but the poacher fell as a charred corpse, and she fell into arms that had been twenty feet away the moment before.

Uxie fell with a thud, keening her pain. Her breath came in sharp gasps, the blade digging in her insides every time her ribs expanded.  _ Uxie. _ She whimpered. With the blade still in her, her bonded couldn’t heal the damage. She tried to reach the knife but couldn’t, her fingers too slick and numb. She didn’t have  _ time _ to fucking  _ die.  _ She tried again.

Zapdos’ bonded lowered her slowly. “ _ Shit. _ Shit shit  _ shit. Fuck. Stay still, damn it.  _ You’ll bleed out faster if you take it out. _ ” _

She’d die if she bled out before her bonded could heal her. “Uxie,” she gasped from his lap. “Heal… knife...” 

Little grey paws patted at her hand. Uxie, still keening, tried to reach for the knife itself. He hissed at it. 

Uxie hissed back, and the knife flung itself into the trees. She screamed, but her bonded sealed the wound before they both passed out completely.

~~~

She woke up still covered in blood, but on the other side of the clearing, away from the corpses. The blood on her face had dried and it itched. She stank of blood and char, and Uxie was gone.

“Don’t sit up, or you’ll pass out again.”

Her eyes popped open. The blond was still there, and his teeth were sharp when he smiled. “Where is Uxie?”

“Brainycat left awhile ago. It was too tired to stay.” He held out an unopened water bottle. “Here. Your bonded healed your wound, but it couldn’t replace all the blood you lost. If I had known you were bonded, I would have taken the knife out myself. Sorry.”

“Or Zapdos would have killed me for trespassing.” 

He shrugged and set the water down by her head. “You were hunting poachers. The enemy of my enemy, and all that.” He glanced at the corpses across the clearing and grimaced. “I guess Zapdos isn’t the only one who loses it at poachers.”

She winced. “I’ve never done… anything like this before. We’ve only been Bonded for— I’m just a researcher.”

He grinned a crooked, toothy smile and tapped the water bottle. “Not anymore. Drink up, or you’ll pass out again. Bonded heal quickly, but you got  _ stabbed _ , kid.”

She uncapped the bottle and had it halfway to her lips before she realized she was only going to pour water all over herself. “... Can you help me up?”

He huffed, but put his arm under her shoulders and helped her sit up. “Up-sie daisy, Slaughter Kitten.”

She spluttered around the sip of water she had tried to take. “My  _ name _ is  _ Vanessa. _ ”

He settled her carefully against his chest. “I’m Spark. Nice to- uh, meet you.”

“...Yeah.” 

They didn’t say anything further for awhile. She sipped her water and tried not to look at the shreds of human being across the clearing, and he’d closed his eyes. He didn’t move, but she could feel the static dancing across his skin through her shirt. 

~

Spark could feel the little cat tremble every time she exhaled.  _ Shock, _ he knew, but he couldn’t get a blanket or anything without moving her again, couldn’t reach his phone, couldn’t stop smelling the burnt-meat smell, and his adrenaline was so jacked up he could watch the static jump his fingers if he took his gloves off.

Fun times. He took a deep breath, in and out like Willow taught him, and tried to ignore the instinctual need to pick her up and walk her out of his territory. He clenched his fists and kept them pressed into the thick grass. “So how’d you bond with Brainycat?”

She peered up at his chin. “You’re one of those people that nicknames  _ everyone _ , aren’t you?”

“Might be. How’d you bond with Brainycat?”

She sighed and took a longer drink. “I was doing research around Lake Acuity for my graduate thesis. Studying pokemon family group dynamics, pack structure, that sort of thing. Uxie was just a legend, you know? Then one of the grad students bonded with Dialga… and he kind of disappeared, but I…  _ felt _ it, I guess? I had dreams about it. About Uxie.” She paused long enough for Spark to need to look down and check on her. She was staring across the clearing at the poacher corpses and her claws had poked holes in the thin plastic bottle. “Then I found what was left of one of the Ninetales I’d been studying buried under some brush at the side of the lake. Two of her kits starved to death before I found them. They were so tiny and cold… and then Uxie was just…  _ there _ . And I needed to  _ hunt. _ ” She shivered. “Arceus, the professor must be  _ worried sick… _ I just disappeared! I just  _ murdered somebody. _ ” She grimaced. “I don’t even care that much. What is  _ wrong _ with me? Who does that?”

He did. More than he wanted to admit. “Legendary pokemon are territorial, and they’re not really concerned about killing humans n’ stuff. The bond is difficult to control when it’s new. Uxie might have taken you over for awhile. Look, we can call your Professor when you recover a little, and… nobody needs to know about the… uh, killing and stuff.”

She grimaced. “My phone’s been dead for weeks. I didn’t have a charger.” 

He shifted. “Do you have it?”

“It’s in my pack, behind the jeeps.”

He bopped his head a couple times. “Right. You okay to move?”

“I think I can manage it,” She sat up and winced. “Just a little sore. I’m okay! Really. Not light-headed or anything.”

He rolled his eyes. “Liar. Which jeep is your pack behind? I’ll go grab it.”

“The left one.”

Spark hopped to his feet and bolted to the left jeep, too fast. He bent over and put his hands on his knees.  _ Gotta focus. Gotta keep it together.  _ Not _ a good time, Fearow! _

Her pack was there against the rear wheel, but when he grabbed it, it squeaked. 

Spark put two yards between himself and the bag before he realized it was just a pokemon hiding in her pack. “Heyy there, it’s okay… don’t be scared. You’re safe now.”

Two pointy ears poked out of the largest pocket and quivered at him. Light and sandy, he recognized them instantly. He scooched closer to the pack, his hand out to be sniffed “Aww, hey you shiny little cutie. Were you scared? It’s okay. No one’s going to hurt you, little guy.” 

The little pokemon sniffed his fingers and burrowed back into the pack. “Aww… poor eevee.” He bent over the pack, and the little shiny eevee looked back at him from a pile of dirty clothes, but didn’t really try to get away. “Hey in there, I need to pick that up. If I pick you up, you gonna be okay?”

It blinked at him. “Vee?”

“Here, we’ll go slow.” He carefully lifted the backpack and cradled it. “See? Reaaall slow. It’s okay.” He could feel the little ‘mon shivering, but it stayed in the pack. He took soft steps around the other end of the jeep. “You’re not going to believe what I found.”

“Who were you talking to?”

Spark knelt next to Vanessa and gently tilted the pack so she could look in. “This little one,” he said. “Your backpack must have been the closest place to hide.” 

She peered at the little fluffy ‘mon hiding on top of her dirty shirts. “Ohhh! Aren’t you just the sweetest? You must have been so scared! Poor thing. Look, it’s just a baby.” She held her fingers out for a sniff. “Hey, cutiepie, do you wanna come out? Come on. We won’t hurt you, I promise.”

Spark was watching her, and not the eevee, so he got to see the moment the little kit decided to give her fingers a sniff reflected in her face. Her smile looked sweet even through the blood. “Do you have a towel in your pack?”

“Yeah,” she said absently, “he’s laying on it. Hey, little one, can I pick you up? You’re on my stuff. Heyy, there you go,” she lifted the little eevee kit out with both hands and cradled it to her chest. It immediately burrowed under her chin and mewed, trying to nuzzle closer. “Ohh, you are  _ so brave, _ yes you are!”

Spark grinned. “I think he likes you, Slaughter Kitten.”

She rolled her eyes and gave the eevee gentle chin scratches. “Can you hand me one of my sweaters? He’s cold.”

Spark shrugged off his leather bomber jacket and draped it around them both. “Here. Take mine.”

She blushed. “... Thanks. Uh, my phone is in the front pocket.”

Spark took one of his gloves off and dug in her pack for the phone. “I’ll just hold this for a bit,” he said. “Your hands are full.” 

She chuckled. “Yeah… he must have been in one of the cages. Shiny eevees are rare- it probably kept him alive. I wish I knew where they’d stolen him from so I could get him back to his family.”

“You rescued him, he’ll pro—”

Light cracked through the clearing and drove Spark to his feet, lightning crackling around him as Zapdos bared his fangs. Vanessa’s phone fell in the grass, just a melted block of plastic and silicates. She scrambled to her feet, the eevee clutched to her chest.

Uxie was back, and it wasn’t alone.

“ _ Dialga!” _ Zapdos snarled.

“Uxie!” Vanessa gasped, and then: “Sӧren!”

The man Uxie hovered over had red eyes, steel highlights in his long blond braid, and steel claws tipped his crossed arms. He looked unimpressed by Zapdos’ snarl. “Vanessa,” he drawled, “Uxie told me its bonded needed help,” he glanced over the whole of the clearing- corpses, Zapdos’s lightning, the blood on her face and the little eevee kit bundled in Spark’s jacket. Uxie had floated over to her and was giving the kit careful pats. “But it looks like you’ve got it covered.”

Her face turned red under all the gore and she looked at Spark- Zapdos- “Spark has been very kind,” she ventured. “But maybe having all of us here is a bit much for Zapdos.”

Spark shook himself and pulled the lightning back under his skin. “Yeah,” he said roughly, “Fearow’s having a hard time. Might be best if you took her home, cuz.”

“ _ Cuz?!” _

Sӧren nodded. “I’ll call you later, Spark. Come on, ‘Nessa. Let’s not overstay our welcome, shall we?”

She nodded, and Spark noticed she was shivering again. She started to shrug his jacket off, but he shook his head. “Keep it,” he said. “I’ll come visit or something. See how the little kit is doing.”

She smiled. “Sure,” she said. “Thanks.”

Spark zipped her pack closed and tossed it to his distant relative. “Take care of the kitten for me, Sorree. She’s feisty.”

Sӧren rolled his red eyes and shouldered her pack. “Yeah, I know. You should see her when someone messes with her research subjects.” He reached out to ruffle her hair. “One time she frightened an undergrad so much he fainted.”

Spark grinned. “Sounds about right.”

_ If you’re ready, _ Uxie interjected.  _ We should be on our way. _

Spark watched his cousin put his arm around the woman’s shoulders and had to work to kill a snarl. “Hey!” He called, “what are you gonna name the kit?”

She cuddled the little eevee to her. “I think I’ll name him Wander,” she said just before they vanished, “we found him when I was wandering.”

“It’s a good name,” he told the empty space. Then he shoved his hands in his pockets and looked around the clearing. “Shit,” he grumbled. “They left me with clean-up. Oh well. New jeeps! Fuck yeah!”

~~~

Vanessa didn’t see Spark for another two years. In that time, she finished her thesis, earned the right to tack a couple new letters on her end of her name, and stayed around the Sinnoh region as she and her bonded grew used to each other. Without a goal, however, she was restless.

Eventually, though, she had to decide what to do with her life, which was when Professor Elm made a suggestion. 

She’d been in the middle of expounding on new research happening in the Unova region- and a new pokemon discovered in the Johto region- and then grousing about the faulty research done by a team in the Kanto region.

“There are too many private interests twisting results,” she grumbled. “Or hiding them.”

“Oh? Are you referring to something in particular?”

She waved a hand. “Not really. Just griping. I wish there was some way to network all of this disparate research, I guess. To keep track of it… maybe make sure it’s not going to harm Pokemon. Or the world.” 

“Yes,” Elm said. “There does seem to be a number of organizations hell-bent on using pokemon for their own interests, no matter what happens to the rest of us. Team Galactic, for example.”

She growled and covered her sharp teeth with a frown. She’d heard the story of what had first woken Uxie years before her time. “Indeed.”

The professor stroked his beard. “You know,” he said. “My colleague Professor Willow is scheduled to launch the Go program later this year. He’s looking for teams, and leaders.”

She scoffed. “I’m not really interested in challenging gyms or league championships, Professor.”

He shrugged. “I’ve heard there’s a need for a dedicated research team,” he suggested. “Perhaps you should give him a call.”

She frowned and tapped her nails on her desk. “Maybe I should,” she agreed.

~~~

“It is my very great pleasure to announce the leader of the newest team in the Go program: Doctor Vanessa Carsen, leader of Team Nomad!”

Vanessa hitched up the skirt of her formal-length dress and stepped up to the podium. “Thank you, Professor Willow. Ladies and Gentlemen, I’m so pleased to be able to join the Go program and further Pokemon research across the region and the world, and I’m so proud of the members of Team Nomad who have worked so hard to bring our team to this point today. I’d especially like to thank my second-in-command Trey Marten—” she gestured to her copper-haired sidekick at the nearest table, “Trey, without you we’d never have made this possible. Thank you so much.” She grinned and winked. “Oh, and it was me who ate your donuts.”

The crowd laughed, and she waved and surrendered the podium to Professor Willow. 

A friend met her at the bottom of the stage. “Spark!”

Spark grinned and scratched the back of his head. “Hey, Kitten.”

She rolled her eyes and reached for a hug. “You clean up nice,” she told him. “I almost wouldn’t recognize you.”

“Yeah, WIllow told me to pretend it was an MiB cosplay, or I wouldn’t have worn it,” he joked. “I hate wearing a tie.”

She gave him a squeeze. “Why are you here? Soren told me you don’t really ever leave the sanctuary.”

He gestured to the Professor. “Willow’s like my Uncle. And…” He straightened. “I’m the Leader  of Team Instinct. I kind of have to go to these.”

“Ooh, bummer. I mean, that’s awesome, but bummer that you have to show up and be around all these stuffed shirts.”

He laughed. “Yeah, but I know where to hide when it gets too boring. Hey, how’s Wander doing?”

“He evolved! He’s an Umbreon!” She glanced over his shoulder to the Professor. “Sorry, I’m being summoned. Find me later, I’ll let him out and you can visit!” 

She hurried away, her heels making little clicky noises on the floor. Spark heaved a sigh, and a hand clapped him on the shoulder. 

“You can’t have her, Sparky,” Sӧren said quietly. “She’s  _ ours _ . Not yours.”

Spark snarled and swiped his cousin’s hand away. “I know she has her own trio. You don’t have to tell me  _ that _ .”

“I just don’t want you getting too attached—”

“Oh,  _ shut up. _ ” He growled and his eyes flared yellow. “She’s welcome in my territory.  _ You aren’t.” _

His cousin held up his hands. “Okay, okay. I’ll head out. Bye, cousin.”

Spark watched him leave before he bounced after a member of Team Instinct. “Hey, Go! Did you see that—”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this story isn't super popular, but if you've been keeping up, you'll have noticed that 1) I just posted two posts back-to-back! and 2) I've been posting like once a day! That's because for NaNoWriMo, I'm doing my 50,000 words as all of my fanfic and original fiction! Basically, I'm taking a writing month to write all the stuff I've been procrastinating on. You can read more about what I'm doing on [my tumblr](https://silentflightfeathers.tumblr.com/) ! Hooray!


	5. Homestead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Nomad comes home.

Vanessa flopped onto her bed back at the cabins. Wander crawled closer and draped himself over her belly, begging for ear scratches, which she obliged absentmindedly.

Tristin had decided to return with them and meet Ash for herself (Vanessa couldn’t decide whether that meant she wanted to fangirl, or whether she wanted to threaten his safety if he ever left Greninja alone again), and she had wound up spending most of her time at the pokemon clinic, teaching Nurse Joy (and Vanessa, who couldn’t help herself) local medical flora to use to treat various pokemon’s ailments. The professor had contacted Ash and Professor Oak over videophone, and he was due to fly in within the week. 

Vanessa wasn’t particularly interested in meeting the Pokemon Prodigy in the flesh. Again.

Someone knocked on the doorframe, and Vanessa dislodged Wander so she could sit up. “Come in.”

Tristin poked her curly head in the door. “Like some company?”

“Sure,” Vanessa gestured to the bed. “There’s plenty of room. Can I get you anything?”

“I’m fine, thanks.” She held up a couple of travel mugs. “I brought coffee! Want some?”

Vanessa laughed. “Sure. Thanks.” 

Tristin came in, her Espeon at her heels, and perched on the edge of the bed. “The professor found out that the Lumiose Gym Leader and his sister are coming to see Ash and Greninja as well,” she said. She looked awkward.

“Clement and Bonnie?” Vanessa sipped the coffee. “That’s right, Bonnie’s one of your Trio bonded, isn’t she?”

Tristin shrugged. “I hadn’t thought about it before,” she admitted. “I’ve never tried to meet her and I feel like I should have; I only have my bonded because of her.”

Vanessa scratched Wander’s head. “She’s young,” she told her. “Still a teenager. And the professor’s been fussing over her for years. She’s a sweet kid, though, and she cares a lot about Pokemon. She won’t hold it against you.” 

“Your trio has other bonded as well, right?” 

Vanessa nodded. “Not every bonded Trio has the same dynamic, though. It tends to depend on the nature of their legendaries. It seems like Zygarde and Xerneas get along fine. I’m sure you don’t need to worry about it.”

“Do you get along with yours?”

“My trio?” Vanessa laughed. “I kind of have more than a trio, but yes. We’re pretty close.” She pulled her cell phone out of her bag and showed Tristin the background. “That’s Molly,” she said as she pointed to the brawny, curly-haired black woman curling her biceps with Azelf, “And that’s Alex,” this time she pointed to the rail-thin green-haired person hugging their legendary lake guardian like it was a teddy bear. “They’re Mesprit’s bonded. They look like they’d blow over in a high wind, don’t they? But they’re actually one of the best battlers in Sinnoh.”  She flipped through her gallery. “And… hold on…” She stopped at a picture of Sӧren facing off with a black-haired trainer. “That’s Sӧren and Freyja, Dialga and Palkia’s bonded. They always butt heads.” She tilted her head. “You know, I only have Uxie because of Sӧren and Dialga.”

“Really?”

Vanessa nodded. “When Dialga chose Sӧren, the lake guardians chose their bonded. It’s our duty to make sure those two numbskulls don’t accidentally recreate time and space. Or wake up Giratina— but Giratina tends to do its own thing—” She flushed. “Anyway. We’re a family. We have a compound in Sinnoh.”

“But.. you’re  _ here. _ ”

Vanessa grinned. “Wander, Uxie, and I like exploring the world and learning all of its secrets. I always go home eventually.”

Tristin crooked an eyebrow. “All of its secrets, huh? I guess Uxie  _ is _ the bringer of knowledge.”

Vanessa poked her tongue out. “Maybe I just like learning. I’m a researcher! It’s my job!”

Tristin laughed. “All right, if you say so. I think I’ll head back to the clinic for now.” She paused in the door. “I think I might invite Bonnie to the Sanctuary for awhile. Get to know her.”

“That sounds like a good idea.” Vanessa looked at Wander. “I think we might head home for awhile.”

“You don’t want to meet-” Tristin paused and hushed her voice “-the  _ catalyst? _ ”

Vanessa snorted. “We’ve met. No, Ash is friends with some journalists here. I’ve been avoiding the media.”

“How very sneaky of you. Well, I suppose I’ll see you around, then?”

Vanessa nodded. “Eventually,” she smiled. “And if you ever visit Sinnoh, you’re welcome to stop by.”

Tristin tilted her head. “Maybe I will,” she said with a sly smile. “ _ Maybe. _ ”

~~~

Vanessa stood on a hill overlooking a small lake, Wander at her heels, and Uxie draped over the top of her head. She sighed and watched the little shapes dash around the courtyard of her homestead. The smoke rose from Sӧren’s forge just as it always did, and she could smell the bread for dinner baking in the kitchen.  _ Home. _

She tried to sneak in through the back gate and wound up at the bottom of a pile of pokemon and people. “Owwww. Mina, get them off me!”

Mina, tall, red-haired, and completely unfazed by the nonsense of her wife’s adopted family, merely crossed her arms. “If you didn’t want to get jumped, ‘Nessa, you shouldn’t have tried to sneak in after being gone for months!” She glanced to the left of the pile. “Dialga, don’t you  _ dare!” _

Dialga paused with one foot raised.  _ I was doing absolutely nothing. _

“You’re a gigantic steel-type  _ time dragon. _ You’ll squish them.”

_ I would not. _

Vanessa extricated herself from the pile. Or, rather, Sӧren and Molly simply grabbed her by her shoulders and heels and stood up, shedding pokemon and making Vanessa squawk indignantly.

“Not to worry, sweet wife,” Molly crowed. “We have extricated the vagrant!”

“I’m not a vagrant! Put me down! You guys!”

“Not before she promises not to run away again for  _ at least _ a week!” Alex, laughing from the bottom of the pile, shouted in triumph.

“All right, all right! I promise! Put me down!”

Sӧren and Molly deposited her feet-first and laughing in front of Mina, who smiled and enfolded her in a hug- that was promptly dogpiled by the rest of the family. 

“Missed you,” Vanessa mumbled into Mina’s shoulder.

“We missed you too,” Mina told her. “You should come home more often, you’ll miss these rascals less.”

“Lies,” she said. “I could never miss these rascals less.” Then she grinned. “I can only miss them more!”

That got a laugh out of Mina. “Well, come on, then. You are, as usual, home just in time for dinner, our little wanderer.”

“Little?!”

Sӧren put his elbow on her shoulder and leaned in. “Little,” he teased. “So little I should keep you in my pock-doof!”

Wander had jumped on his head. “Yeah, yeah, I missed you too, you ring-headed scallywag.”

“Good boy, Wander!”

“Breee!”

Vanessa found herself dragged, led, or simply carried to the communal kitchen, where Mina put her to work setting the table and feeding the ‘mons (of which there were many- Alex’s team, several of Vanessa’s rescues, Sӧren’s companion Furret and his many firetypes, and Freyja’s Meowstic). Then she was unceremoniously plonked at the table and fed with the rest of them. 

“That was delicious, as usual, Mina.”

“How would you know what’s usual? You’re never home!” Freyja teased. 

“Watch it, you watery brat. I can still kick your butt.”

Freyja stuck her tongue out. “Not if you can’t catch me!” She cried, and bolted from the table. Vanessa bolted after her, shouting “get her, Wander! Lick her to death!” and the rest of them followed them into the living room.

“No wrestling in the house!” Mina warned. “Or I’ll have Hariyama sit on the both of you!”

They flopped, panting. “Yes, Mina.” They chorused. Freyja flopped where she was, on the hardwood floor, and Vanessa floundered her way into the mound of floor pillows they kept for cuddle piles and waited for her trio-mates to flop with her- which they did, and she sighed, content. Sӧren sprawled on the couch, and Mina settled into her armchair.

“So,” Molly began from somewhere in the vicinity of Vanessa’s midriff, “what was so important this time that you had to stay away for almost a year?”

Vanessa sighed. “I knew as soon as I got settled you’d start in with the serious questions,” she groused. “I was investigating Team Flare.”

“Team Flare? What have they done to merit your attention?”

“Lysandre was back. He wanted to capture Xerneas and steal the secrets to life.”

“Lysandre? As in, the guy who wanted to exterminate all of Kalos?”

“Yep. That guy.”

Molly sighed. “Well, at least he’s dead, then.”

“Wha! I never said I killed anybody!”

They all sat up and stared at her. “All right, fine. He’s dead and I made sure the rest of Team Flare spends a long time behind bars.”

“That’s our girl,” Alex said. “Teaching evil a lesson for eight years and counting. Speaking of evil, how is that cute Team Rocket assistant doing? We  _ heard. _ ”

Vanessa flushed. “Stooop. I almost blew her up!”

“We know.” They chorused. 

“By the way,” Molly added, “Trey managed to salvage some research from that outpost.”

“Research?!” 

“Mmhmm, and we’ll let you have it if you promise to stay  _ two _ weeks.”

She flopped back on the pillows. “You’re no fun,” she teased. “Besides, if I stay less than a month, you guys will definitely botch training the new pokemon I broouught youuu.”

Alex pounced, lithe as a cat. “New pokemon?!”

Vanessa laughed. “Let me up and I’ll get its ball.”


	6. Bells

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanessa introduces a new 'mon to the family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Egads I've had this part written for MONTHS and just now noticed I forgot to post it. >.<

The whole house sat in a ring around the small pokemon and cooed. The little dragon-type crouched in Vanessa’s lap, jingling its scales, and tried to be smaller, which only charmed them further. The gold edges of its scales flickered in the firelight when it peeked its little red eyes out at the crowd around them.

“She’s a Jangmo’o,” Vanessa explained. “I picked her up from a breeder in Alola. Here, Alex. Razberries are her favorite.”

Alex proffered the fruit. “Heyy, Jangmo’o. Welcome to the family. Do you want a treat?”

The baby pokemon uncurled itself and sniffed the treat before it tried to burrow into Vanessa’s stomach. “Awww, she’s so shy!”

“Yeah. She’s a dragon type, but she’ll evolve into a fighting type eventually. The breeder thought she’d be too timid to be a fighter, so I took her with me.” She shifted the baby in her lap. “Oof.”

“Is she a steel type too?” Sӧren asked. “Those scales sound like metal.”

“You’d think, but the breeder said no. She’s heavy enough to be one, though.” 

“Well,” said Molly, “whatever she wants to be, we’ll make sure she gets the training she needs. But I think this little baby wants her dinner and bedtime, don’t you, sweetheart?”

“Jaaangmooo!” Came from Vanessa’s stomach. 

“The playpen is set up over there,” Mina reported. 

Vanessa scratched the little gray ears. “Hey, Jangmo’o, can you go with Auntie Molly? She has dinner and a nice cozy bed all ready for you.”

Molly held her hand out for the little one to sniff. “Aww, of course she will. She’s a tough little ‘mon, and she’s going to grow up big and strong, aren’t you, sweetie?”

“Mo’o!” She said with a little shake. Molly bundled her up gently and carried her to the playpen. “There you go! Eat your dinner all up, okay?”

“Momomomo…”

“Atta girl!” Molly gave her a pat and left the little ‘mon to her dinner and blankies. The rest had all retreated to their respective places, Alex & Vanessa curled up in the pile of pillows, Sӧren and Freyja on the couch with Freyja’s meowstic and Sӧren’s furret. Molly squished into the oversized lounge chair with her wife and sighed.

“So about that research…” Vanessa began.

All five of them threw their heads back and laughed.

~~~

Vanessa spent the next week playing with pokemon, reading research she’d mostly already known, and catching up with the news from Sinnoh. She had a video message from Clement about how the reunion had gone (as chaotic as could be expected- but both Ash and Greninja were on a plane back to Kanto, so it worked out the way everyone had hoped) and a short update on his little sister’s efforts to befriend Tristin. 

“They’re out at the All-Earth sanctuary now,” he said. “And Professor Sycamore got Miss Tristin to update the camp maps, so the students know where the Sanctuary boundaries are and won’t bother The Wild Hunt.”

“Wonderful. Are they getting along?”

He adjusted his glasses. “I think they are going to be… very good friends.”

She grinned. “I’m glad. How are Sara and Octavian doing at Lumiose labs?”

“They’re doing great! Thank you for recommending them.”

“Anything for a fellow scientist. I should be going, though. I’ll be in Sinnoh for awhile if you need anything at all, okay?”

“I will keep that in mind, Doctor Carsen! Have a very good day!”

“You too, Clement.”

The screen went dark and she looked down at her feet. Wander, as usual, was there, and the Jangmo’o was there as well, jingling softly. The baby ‘mon had taken a couple days to adjust, but it had grown used to the hustle and bustle that usually went on inside. “There you two are. Would you like to go on a walk outside and meet the big pokemon today, Jangmo’o?” 

“Jang! Jang!”

“Okay. Let me know if you get scared and want to go back inside, all right?”

“Jangmo!”

“Come on, then.” 

She took the little ‘mon on a tour of the facility- Alex’s practice gym, where she hid behind Vanessa’s knees and rattled her scales; Mina’s office and gardens, where she sneezed at the flowers and stole a few berries. She jumped and clanged around with Molly’s dumbbells and gave the punching bag a few promising love taps, which made Molly laugh. 

They were exploring the edge of the lake when she suddenly perked up, though. Sӧren’s forge and ironworks was only a little ways away, situated away from the main buildings in case of fire. He was working on something- Vanessa could hear the  _ ping, ping, ping, _ of his hammer striking steel. Jangmo’o stared at it, her tail unconsciously tapping the ground in time with the hammer strikes before she suddenly perked up and pranced, jangling. “Jang!Jangjang!”

Vanessa laughed. “I get it. You think there’s some more Jangmo’o in there, don’t you? That’s Sӧren’s forge. Do you want to go visit?”

“Jang! Jang JangJang!” She pranced and raced towards the forge.

“Jangmo’o! Wait, don’t run in the forge! It’s dangerous!”

The little jangmo’o ran ahead, its scales jingling like happy bells, until she ran head-first into the foot Dialga put in her way.  _ Not so fast, little one. This is not a good place to run and play. Uxie-girl! Tell the little one a hot-iron-hammer place is not good for little ones! _

Vanessa caught up and patted Dialga’s knee. “Thanks, Dialga. She heard the hammer and got excited. Oop!” She caught the little ‘mon about her middle before she could run under Sӧren’s feet. “Steady, Jangmo’o. See? It’s Sӧren’s hammer chiming like that. Stay out here with me and Dialga, okay?”

Sӧren thrust the hot piece of steel he’d been working into the quenching bucket and pushed his glasses up. “What have you got there, Dialga?”

_ Uxie-girl has brought a little one! Tell the little one it is too early for forges! _

“Too early? What are you talking about, we’ve been here for hours- oh! Hey, ‘Nessa. Hello, Jangmo’o!” He laughed, wiped his hand on his leather apron, and scratched the little Jangmo’o under its chin. “What are you doing out and about? Did you come to see me?”

“She got excited when she heard your hammer. Jangmo’o communicate by jangling their scales.”

“Aww! Did you think I was a big jangly dragon? Naww, I’m not the big dragon, this guy’s the big dragon!” He patted Dialga’s foot and got a big grin on his face. “Do you want to help me hammer some steel, Jangmo’o?”

“Sӧren, are you  _ sure _ this is a good idea?”

“It’ll be fine. I’ll use cold steel, it won’t hurt it. Here!” He went back to his anvil and picked a piece of scrap with his tongs. “Watch me now. You watchin?” Sӧren swung his hammer and smacked the piece of scrap with a ringing  _ clang _ . Jangmo’o hopped and clashed her scales together. “Haha! That’s right!”  _ Clang. _ Jangmo’o stomped her little foot on the ground. “Hey, look, she gets it!” He knelt and put a piece of scrap down for the little pokemon. “You try!”

Jangmo’o nudged the piece of steel curiously with her nose and tapped it cautiously.

“Nah, you hit it harder than that! Like this!” He stood up and cracked the piece of scrap on his anvil again. “Your turn!”

Jangmo’o zeroed in on her piece of steel, her tail wiggling like a cat, and made a great leaping pounce, hitting the scrap with her paws and making it ring. 

“There you go! Good job!” Sӧren ignored Vanessa laughing and hit his piece of scrap again. 

Jangmo’o focused on her scrap of steel like it was an opponent in her final battle, jumped as high as she could, and landed on it, glowing-tail first. The steel lay in two pieces on Sӧren’s shop floor. 

“Holy shit!” Vanessa lurched forward, stunned. “That was Iron Tail!”

“Wow! You’re so awesome, Jangmo’o!” Sӧren knelt and gave her scales a good, jingly scritch. “That was a really good Iron Tail!”

Vanessa knelt and patted the little pokemon. “Jangmo’o,” she asked, “would you like to help Sӧren and be a forge pokemon? It’s a really hard job, but I think you’d like it.”

Jangmo’o bobbed its head, jingled its scales, and pranced around Sӧren in an excited circle.

_ That would be a yes, _ Dialga translated.

Sӧren, also excited, swept the baby dragon up and spun around. “Ha! This’ll be great! I’ve never had a pokemon help me with hammering before!”

“Jang jangmooo!”

“Sӧren! Put her down before you make her sick!” Vanessa scolded. “She’s still just a baby!”

“Aww,” he cooed, “little Belle won’t get sick, will she? No she won’t, she’s going to grow up and be the strongest, prettiest forge pokemon  _ ever, yes she will! Yes, she will! Who is so pretty? It’s you! Yes you are!” _

Vanessa leaned against Dialga and crossed her arms. “Sometimes, Dialga, I wonder about this guy. Hey, Thor of the mighty hammer! Here’s her ball.”

Sӧren caught the ball with one hand and held the ‘mon around her middle with the other. “Thanks, Vanessa!”

She smiled and watched him with his new baby. “No problem,” she said. “I’ll send Kukui an email later and ask him if he has any information about raising Jangmo’o. Are you really going to name her Belle?”

He cuddled the little ‘mon. “It fits! She jingles when she’s happy.”

“I suppose it does, then. Well, little Belle, are you going to be happy and jingly with Sӧren?”

Belle wiggled and jingled until Sӧren put her down, then she raced around the forge, tapping bits of steel and making them ring. 

_ That also means yes, _ Dialga informed them with a heaving sigh.  _ I see I shall have to teach the little one manners as well. _


End file.
